1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electrical connector of the type employed to make an electrical interconnection between a plurality of conductors and an array of upstanding pins or posts and more particularly relates to an electrical connector suitable for use with multi-conductor flat conductor flexible cable which promotes simultaneous mass termination of all of the conductors within the cable.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Flat conductor flexible cable offers many advantages over discrete wires and over round conductor flexible or ribbon cable. However, in general, it is not as easy to connect electrical terminals to flat conductors as it is for round wires. One crimp terminal that has proven effective in establishing such an interconnection to flat conductors in a flat cable is depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 4,082,402. This device employs a plurality of staggered teeth on the opposite sides of a central base to penetrate the insulation and crimp to the underlying flat conductor. Terminals in accordance with that patent may be stamped and formed from flat stock and inserted into an insulated housing. Conventional resilient contacts suitable for establishing electrical connection with either pins or posts can be employed with terminals using a crimp terminal of the type depicted therein. For example, a dual beam configuration extending vertically upward from the base of the contact terminal disclosed therein establishes electrical interconnection with adjacent sides of pins or posts located within an array. The position of such spring contacts between adjacent terminals, however, limits the centerline spacing of pins for which the connector having a terminal as shown in the above-mentioned patent would be suitable.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,699,502 discloses another device having a box configuration for establishing contact to one of a series of posts or pins. This particular configuration is suitable for use with a crimp to establish contact with posts or pins positioned side by side in a row. This box configuration, however, also establishes contact with the adjacent sides of posts within the row. Furthermore, the configuration of the terminal shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,699,502 requires that the terminal be formed from a stamped blank significantly wider than the final width of the terminal. Thus, these terminals cannot be positioned in a closely spaced arrangement on a single carrier strip if stamped from the same flat stock.
One method of obtaining closer spacing for terminals stamped from a blank having a width substantially greater than the final width of the terminal is to employ stackable terminal arrays on carrier strips with the individual terminals offset. Thus, an assembly consisting of a plurality of arrays, each on a separate carrier strip can be positioned for insertion into an insulated housing having a plurality of cavities. U.S. Pat. No. 4,021,095 discloses a stackable carrier strip arrangement to facilitate closer centerline spacing.
Increased usage of high density circuit applications have made it impossible to employ the same configurations for interconnecting pins on closely spaced centerlines. For example, the box configuration shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,699,502 is unsuitable for forming interconnection between posts or pins located on centerlines no greater than 0.050 inch. A new resilient pin connector employing resilient spring arms engaging the top and bottom of pins arranged in a horizontal row has been developed commensurate with the instant invention and is suitable for establishing interconnections on 0.050 inch centerlines. The instant invention permits such a closely spaced pin contact configuration to be employed with a standard flat conductor flat cable crimp such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,082,402.